PRESIDENT Juan Carlos Varela, has defended the Office of the First Lady, directed by his wife Lorena Castillo over a controversial publicity stunt to raise awareness of breast caancer.

[caption id="attachment_64432" align="alignleft" width="300"] The "very creative" project[/caption]

The project involved covering a section of a mountain with a pink tarp, far from the sight of most of Panama's citizens. in El Valle de Anton.

The publicity grab has been the focus of criticism and satire and provided a heyday for cartoonists and political commentators.

It came  in a week where the government came under fire when a $2.7 million land brought donations to the Catholic Church o $23.9 million since Varela took office. Varela and his wife are Catholics, and have lobbied for the Pope's  Catholic Youth conference to be held in Panama.

on Sunday, September 25, Varela said that  mountain covering was  a positive and "very creative" advertising campaign.

Positive debate
He said that even the debate generated about it "is positive because it raised the consciousness" of the issue.

"It is raising awareness of the thousands of women with breast cancer," the president said.

The campaign involved draping the tarp over what could be considered the breast section of "The Sleeping Indian," a section of mountains in El Valle de Antón that resembles someone lying down, face up.

He said that the scope of the campaign is national and international since the mountain is a symbol of the country.

"The concept was very creative," he said in  , justifying the cost of $300,000 and the fact that the direct contract was awarded without going through a competitive bidding process says La Prensa.

The project  was paid for through a  donation from the Embassy of Taiwan.

The tarp was removed after a week and a half due to concerns raised about its impact on the environment.